The Beauty Blender, a praised makeup phenomenon. A small drop shaped pink sponge which you dampen so that it swells, squeeze the water out with a towel and then dab your foundation/concealer out with it. The surface has super fine pores for being a sponge and that makes it apply like velvet. So what’s the problem? I just CAN’T get around liking it! I’ve never gotten along with it, I just find it too puffy and absorbant (even though people say that it stops absorbing product when damp. It does.) so it feels a bit wasteful. Plus it feels hard to wash well and it gets gross after a while. Once again I return to my stippling brushes and feel good again.

But! a few months ago I tried the KICKS Rubicell Sponge and YES, finally a tool that does what I wished for the Beauty Blender to do! A thin, flat “powderpuff” which has the same fine pores. Works great both dry (for higher coverage) and dampened (for less coverage), doesn’t absorb product at all and doesn’t feel gross after washing. The sponge is latex free and doesn’t break down from the oils during use. For 39 SEK compared to the Beauty Blender which is at about 200 it’s an easy choice for me.

My sponge looks like this after months of daily use (washed, that is!). Not a speck of makeup residue, no wonky shape, no visible wear at all.

I always, and by that I mean daily, roll the Rubicell Sponge dry over my foundation on areas where I easily overapply or get dry spots, also I use it to blend my concealer out. I’ve been lazy and applied both foundation and concealer with it on one go which also works fine, in that case better dampened.

The back has a ribbon which makes it really comfortable to use and ergonomical to roll over the skin.

Oh, brow dye! Best quick fix ever. By keeping the brows well dyed it’s so easy to save time in the morning, just a few dabs of brow product is needed compared to when they are undyed and I’ll start spackling it on just to get some oomph from my brows. Then it’s time to re-dye.

I’m using dye from RefectoCil in the colour 3 Naturbrun. A rich brown colour for darker brows. You have to buy a bottle of hydrogen peroxide aswell (available in both liquid and cream format, you decide what you prefer) but with that and a spoolie or cleaned mascara brush you’re good to go! These bottles and tubes really do last forever. You can find Refectocil on Eleven.se, they ship within Europe!

RefectoCil liquid hydrogen peroxide and brow dye in 3 Naturbrun.

Before, during and after RefectoCil brow dye in 3 Naturbrun. I don’t leave it on for more than a few minutes, I find that it really catches the thin light hairs very quickly.

Do you like strong lip colours but find that it looks to intense on the lips? There’s a super simple trick that makes the colour look more effortless. Apply your lipstick with a fluffy eyeshadow brush instead of a lip pencil! A fluffy brush with some density “swirls” the lip colour onto the lips rather than brushes it on which gives a soft yet bright result without ultra sharp edges. I always keep the Real Techniques Base Shadow Brush in my kit as I love how lips photograph with this application technique.

Real Techniques Expert Face Brush is a classic in my brush collection, I have many of them but more are always welcome as I use them all the time. A dome shaped, really dense face brush that applies foundation and blends concealer in no time. It should also be good for contouring I’ve heard.

Bdellium Tools Maestro Series Eyeliner Brush 710 is a thicker eyeliner brush, I’ve missed one of these for so long! I often find this kind of brushes being too thin and floppy, but this one is really dense and you can vary the line thickness a lot depending on the pressure during application.

Real Techniques Nic’s Picks is a set of five brushes, two available in the standard range and three are new and exclusive to the set.

Duo-fiber Face Brush: A surprisingly dense and un-prickly duofibre brush, works great for cream blush. It doesn’t apply spotty like they often do, it buffs really well!

Cheek Brush (set exclusive): A thick and soft domed face brush, my biggest reason for wanting this set. It feels like Expert Face Brush but in a bigger fluffier format! I know what I’ll be applying my bronzer with in the future.

Angled Shadow Brush (set exclusive): Fluffy angled brush for eye makeup. I don’t like angled fluffy brushes for either face or eyes so this one doesn’t feel too exciting for me.

Base Shadow Brush: Best multi tool for eyes! It’s perfect for both application and blending. This one isn’t sold separately which it really should be, only in a big set, so I’m happy for every single new one I manage to lay my hands upon. Love it.

Eyeliner Brush (set exclusive): A sharp little angles brush, it’s har to get too many of these. Great for both eyeliner and eyebrows. We’ll see if it keeps it shape or if it starts getting fluffy with time, that’s my biggest problem with these brushes.

Do you get stuck in makeup routines? Just snatching the same stuff and putting it on the same way every morning. I often do with eye makeup, here’s what I’ve reached for lately!

KIKO Soft Touch Blush – Natural Pink (102) smoked out all over the lids with the EcoTools Airbrush Concealer brush, and lashlines slightly defined with the shadow that I use for my brows. So quick and easy, I actually love this blush more as an eyeshadow than as a blush! The pinky brown shade compliments blue and green eyes beautifully.

My name is Viola Holmgren and I've been representing Swedish beauty bloggerism (yes. we're a cult) since 2008. I focus on cruelty free beauty and I love the feeling of finding cool products that have gone under the radar.

Makeup doesn't have rules. The only person who decides what's right or wrong and if you're wearing it or not is you, and that's where my job as a blogger comes in handy. Use my experience as a guide or an inspiration towards finding your own way.

And just to clarify, all reviews and opinions are my own, there is no evil baby demon on my left shoulder who is bribing, forcing or possessing me to write. Reviews are best written in honesty!